I really really hate floods

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
I really really hate floods
8
Tue, 09-14-2004 - 4:16pm
I really really really (really really) hate floods. I live in Asheville, NC, and we have been without water for a week now. Well, I should say without "potable" water. There was plenty of water in the streets. Brown, stinky, sludgy water. And there was water coming out of our taps 5 days after the rivers flooded and shut the water treatment plant down. Of course the water coming out was also brown and stinky. It's clear now, but apparantly that is deceptive, since we've been told to boil it if we want to do anthing other than look at it from across the room. We had to pile the kids and the dog up and head to my MIL and FIL's house, out in the middle of nowhere pretty much, since they have a well, and thus could still do little, helpful things, like flush their toilets, take showers, and cook without getting dysentery. I feel like such a big whiner, though, for complaining, since a lot of people are now trying to shovel the before mentioned brown stinky sludge out of what's left of their houses and businesses. My husband had paintings in a gallery in the village section of town, and we went after the water receded to see if there was anything left to rescue. Fortunately for us, his paintings were on an upper level, and the water missed them (by only about 12 inches, but 12 very important inches). Other artists, and craftsmen lost everything. Some of the buildings are historic sites, and are just devastated by the water and mud. My house needs to be cleaned in the worst way, but until now I didn't realize how little you can clean without water. Somehow using water full of bacteria and viruses to wash my clothes, counters and floors seems like a bad plan... The rivers have receded to back to inside their banks, but just barely, and now we're being told to expect up to 16 inches of rain in one day when what will be left of Hurricane Ivan makes it's way up here. I think the people cleaning up the mud might better wait. The ground is totally saturated, and being in the mountains, we've had mudslides that have covered up sections of highway and interstate already. I want a bath. A long one. This truly stinks. (as do most people in town, sadly...) I'm sorry, but I just really needed to vent--I'm trying to have a positive attitude about all of this, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed today, since the dog rolled in the mud and came inside, and I can't give the stupid beast a bath, because if would make her sick to drink the tap water. AAAGGGGHHHHH!!! My life is covered in mud!

Angela

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2000
Tue, 09-14-2004 - 5:56pm
Oh I'm so sorry. How unfun for you. Everybody tries to act like a real trooper for the first day or two of a crisis, but you can't help but get whiny after a WEEK without water. I hope everything gets back to normal before you lose your sanity - Suzanne
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Tue, 09-14-2004 - 6:08pm
I am sorry Angela, that sounds really rough. I wish there was something we could do to help! I think you have every right to your feelings, so vent all you want! You know I have not heard anything about this on the late news! Hope it gets better soon!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Tue, 09-14-2004 - 11:01pm
OMG OMG, I'M IN ASHEVILLE TOO!!! oh what a trip, what are the odds of that?? and i am sooo with you on the water woes. o had to haul my greasy butt all the way out to mars hill just to take a shower! i finally did my whole sink full of week old crusty dishes today b/c we were getting fruit flies, lol. and mopped the floor and cleaned the toilet and did all those stupid chores that are impossible without water. dh's been out of work half this week b/c he works at the a'ville pizza co and they've been having to open late and all b/c of the stupid water advisory. did you hear that they were doing surgeries at the hospital with HAND GEL?!? eeekkk!! i've got gallons of bottled water stashed all around the house (thank you red cross!) and i'm so sick of tripping over them, lol. the whole thing still hasn't computed for me. the kids were begging to go to the park over the weekend and i headed over to the amboy road park without even thinking about it, only to realize "oh crap, it's not there anymore!!"

on thursday we went driving around to view the damage, and we were just sick. like you said, the whole river artist district is GONE! the river was up to the freaking street signs, what a mess. dh says people were kyaking through lowes! at least the kids finally went back to school, i swear if we had one more day stuck at home together things were NOT going to be pretty, lol.

i'm so scared about ivan, if this happens again i really think i'm just gonna sit down in the middle of the floor and cry. i can't do this again!! but at least this time i'll know enough to fill the tub up beforehand so we can at least flush the toilet.

i'm struggling to stay positive too, which is hard since our driveway is so washed out it's virtually impassible, but today i was watching the news and saw some footage of clyde and that helped. they got it five times worse than we did, flipped cars and mobile homes everywhere, roads undercut by the flood, apartment buildings with their foundations erroded, etc. made me a little more thankful as i realized it could be worse.

well it is beyond cool to meet someone close to home!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 10:09am
Its ok to complain, even if you are not as bad off as others, you still are bad off.
I feel your pain and wish I could do something to help the people who have been ruined by these storms.
We have come close and only can pray we dont get hit ever.
Ifyou need anything! please let me know.
I am in GA and you guys are more then welcomed to stay, I can send you water, food whatever you need!
Keep safe.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-27-1998
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 2:18pm
Oh, I am sorry that is happening.

We expect minor flooding, wind and power outages here from Ivan overnight tonight and tomorrow.

But as far as major flooding, nothing I know of.

My only worry besides not having power is that since the ground is still wet, once Ivan brings in rain, a tree or two will fall (and I hope not on my house).

I hope you make it through the next heavy rain.

Dolli

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 3:25pm
Yeah, that's the joy of living in a tourist community--nobody wants anybody outside of town to know that there are EVER problems (gasp!) in the area that you're thinking about going on vacation LOL! We finally got our water cleared this afternoon, and hopefully it will stay on this time. It came on briefly for a day or so, then turned to sludge and turned off... The health department seems to think we can drink it now, so no more trips to the Red Cross Water Station!!! YAAAHHH!!! :) Thanks for the support :)

Angela

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 3:40pm
That's soooo funny! It really is a small world :) We're over past Spivey, so we just NOW got cleared to use the water today... I loved the newscast that said that water was on "except for a few roads", and then you looked at the city website, and it was almost all of West Asheville LOL! Yeah, just a few... All of Erwin Hills, and heading out Leicester Hwy was out too until today, so at least we weren't alone in our stinkatude. We went down to Biltmore Village last Thursday to get hubby's stuff, and the antique barn beside Kinko's was being emptied with a front end loader. I think their antiques are somewhere three counties down! I'm with you on being afraid of Ivan--my fear is that in addition to flooding, we could end up with no power the next time. The ground is so saturated that the trees are vunerable to more water causing them to start uprooting, and then there would go the power lines. I swear if we lose the water AND the power this time I'm going to have a (#*)%&)*(# episode out in the front yard... I was supposed to go to Camp Daniel Boone this weekend with our Cub Scout Pack, but I think we're going to pass. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere with 200-300 elementary school age boys and their moms (it was Mom and Me Camp) with the possibility of no power or water doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me... I swear, I love the Red Cross to death, but if I don't ever have to go to a Water Station again, it will be too soon. I got so disgusted with my house that I hid everything in the kitchen under bath towels LOL! I'm not sure who I thought I was fooling, but it made me feel better :) I'm scrubbing everything in sight today... Good luck weathering Ivan--hopefully I won't see you getting bottled water any time soon LOL!

Angela

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 11:11am
roflol about the water stations, god that sucked! the lines were backed into the streets over here, it took like 30 mins to get through. i ended up just buying most of my water at ingles because it was such a pita! and dito on the towels over the dishes, i've still got them over certain areas lol. the first day the water went out tristan spilled an entire 2 liter of mountain dew on the floor, and by the time we got the water back on it was a huge black sticky mess full of dirt, dog hair, cheerios, you name it, lol.

i heard about the likelyhood of trees knocking out the power lines and i'm going 'great, now we get no water AND no power, at least that way i won't be able to SEE the dirt accumulating all around my house!' i'm giving the kids really good baths tonight and scrubbing till my hands are raw like you, lol.

good luck, keep your fingers crossed!